Take a peek at a few places I’m posting this week. Lots of fun for the holidays.

• Ideas and craft for a Hanukkah celebration, over at Baby Center’s Momformation. I love this treat pouch by Martha Stewart pictured below, so cute!

• The holidays are all about baking, right! Here’s a round up of some delicious treats from the Holiday Bake Along I’ve shared over at Babble. Yummy Sticky Sticky Buns by Buns in my Oven pictured below.

• I’m thrilled to be a guest judge for the Put a Serger in my Stocking contest, happening over at Prudent Baby. I’m on a very esteemed panel of judges, so this is gonna get all up in your sewing machine! And they’ve extended the contest until Sunday, December 11th at 11:59 p.m. PST, so get your sewing on!

Natalie of Nat the Fat Rat, Ashley of Lil Blue Boo, Jen of Tatertots & Jello, Colleen of Thumpkin,
Cynthia of Fabricworm.com, Amy of Mod Podge Rocks, Jaime and Jacinda of Prudent Baby, and me!

Elizabeth of Dear Lizzy makes this DIY Pretty Petals Tee look all too easy, I think I’m going to have to give it a try. I’ve got a few plain t-shirts that could use a good ruffling!

Guest post by Somer of A Little Great

Music and t-shirts are two things we have in abundance at our house. I often hear one of my kids complaining to the other, “You can’t sing that, its my song.” So, I decided to collaborate with them to make t-shirts with lyrics from songs they like. We came up with an image and lyric, and then used a combination of freezer paper stenciling, applique, and embroidery to create one-of-a-kind t-shirts.

The stencils can be used for all different songs. The sun and clouds were done with freezer paper stencils. Download and print the sun and clouds template here: sun and clouds template

For the embroidered words, I used a disappearing marker to free-hand the words. Then using an embroidery hoop and two strands of floss, I embroidered the words.

The “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy” is done in a variety of stitches. The “decided to create a dream come true” is kind of like an interlaced running stitch, with the foundation stitch using embroidery floss and the interlaced stitch (a single weave, not going back a second time) out of 1/4 inch ribbon.

The “Fight” t-shirt has appliqued boxing gloves with detailing done in a back stitch with two strands of black floss. The black words were cut from freezer paper with a Cricut machine then stitched on. Download and print the boxing gloves template here: boxing gloves template

We had so much fun dreaming up combinations of our favorite songs and images. Many more t-shirts will be in our future.

Somer of A Little Great is a creative diva, pattern designer, seamstress, walking idea machine, devoted special-needs mom, artist extraordinaire, and mother to four amazing kids.

Paper garlands are a beautiful accent for any party or home decor.  They are really easy to make and can match any theme.

First, you will need to start with cardstock punched out in your desired shape. You can use punches, die cut machines, a Cricut, or just plain scissors.

Next, you will need to use your sewing machine to sew the shapes together.

You can sew your shapes as close or as far apart as you like.

When you are satisfied with the length of your garland, just snip it off.  Viola!

Here’s a sample of a bird garland we made to match a bird themed party.  This was a nice accent to our dessert table and really added a pop of color.

Little Birdie Secrets are regular contributors to Make and Takes. They were born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Their mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations.

It may be a balmy 45 degrees here in Seattle, but we still get cold feet at night! That’s why we made up a bunch of these rice heat therapy bags to keep us warm. These are instructions for a mini bag, but a larger bag for shoulder, back, or leg pain is easy to make, too.

Rice Bag Warmer Tutorial

Supplies needed:

• 12″x12″ piece of flannel (or any size you choose)
• white rice (NOT instant rice!)
• sewing pins, matching thread & sewing machine

1. Cut your flannel to the desired size. Mine was 12″x12″, which makes for an approx. 5.5″x11.5″ bag.

2. Fold flannel in half, right sides together. Sew along the entire long side of your rectangle.

3. You now have a fabric tube. Move the long seam to the middle of the rectangle as shown. Sew down one of the short ends. I used a 1/4″ seam allowance.

4. Turn your bag right-side out. Top-stitch along the seam on your short side using a 1/4″ allowance (this is for decorative purposes only–you’ll see why in the next step).

5. Fill your bag with rice. I think I used about 1.5 cups. You don’t want it too full or it won’t conform to your body. Tuck the seams in and pin.

6. Sew along the pinned side (now your end seams match).

Heat rice bags in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, or until warm. You don’t want them too hot–you will get burned! Heat it up and keep it inside your covers near the end of your bed. Goodbye, icicle feet!

If you’re giving a rice bag as a gift, you can make a decorative tag with heating instructions to tie on with a ribbon.

To make a longer bag for use on sore muscles, start with a longer piece (or pieces) of flannel and complete steps 1 through 3. For step 4, I top-stitched around three sides of this bag before filling with rice for a cleaner look. Next, measure how many evenly spaced pockets you have room for and make a line across the bag with chalk or a fabric pen. Fill the first section with rice (mine are about 1 cup each), then pin along chalk line, being careful to keep rice from spilling into next section. Sew across line. Repeat with remaining sections until the last one. Tuck in ends and top-stitch closed. Easy-peasy!

Little Birdie Secrets is a regular contributor and was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations. Come visit us at www. littlebirdiesecrets.com

We made a few more Fringe Fleece Scarves, but with Christmas colors this time. I layered a green, white, and red strip of fleece, sewed them all up together in a line, then made small 1×2 inch cuts up both sides. Our necks will be all snuggly and warm this winter season.

Click here for tutorial details: Fringe Fleece Winter Scarf

It’s November — let the cooking and entertaining begin!  The holidays are almost here. If you are like us, you are busy planning meals, baking, and entertaining.  Why not impress your guests with cute kitchen accessories in addition to your fantastic rolls or pie.  Here’s a quick tutorial on how to make a stylish kitchen towel to be strategically displayed when your brother’s new girlfriend or crazy distant cousins arrive for the feasting.

Supplies for Handmade Kitchen Towel:

• Steam a Seam or Fusible Webbing
• Fabric scraps
• iron
• kitchen towel
• sewing machine and coordinating thread.

First, draw your design on the fusible web. Remember that this will need to be drawn in reverse.  Then cut them out–not perfectly, but with a nice half an inch border around your shape.

Second, Iron your fusible webbing to the WRONG side of the fabric per the packages instructions.  Once the webbing is adhered to the fabric, go ahead and cut out your shape.

Third, peel off the paper backing and place the shapes down on your towel where you would like them to be.  Follow the package instructions again on how to fuse the shape to the towel.

Next, using your sewing machine, either applique/satin stitch or zig zag stitch all the way around your shapes.  Be sure to sew down all sides of the shapes and do not leave any raw edges.  You will want to be sure to use coordinating thread for this and may have to change your thread a few times before you are done.

Lastly, if you have some cute ric rac or pom poms, go ahead and add them to the bottom of the towel to give it a little extra finishing touch.

Little Birdie Secrets is a regular contributor to Make and Takes and was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations. Come visit us at www.littlebirdiesecrets.com

I was recently interviewed over at Todays Mama and talked about how yarn crafts are something I wish I was better at! So I’m sharing this easy to follow tutorial that I love from the Little Birdie Secrets for Crocheting a Flower. I’ve got all my supplies, some yarn and a crochet hook, and now I’m set to follow along. You will need to have a basic understanding of crocheting for this technique, but they do a great job with the video that I’m hoping my meager crocheting skills will get me through.

Aren’t these crochet flowers just to die for? Image via Little Birdie Secrets

Scarves are not only functional, but super stylish. If you don’t have time (or inclination) to knit or crochet one, cut one instead. Seriously–it’s that easy.

Find a rayon/cotton knit or jersey knit–something that is soft and has a little stretch. If you find 60″ width fabric you can get four single-layer scarves out of one 2-yard piece. Fold it a couple of times length-wise so it will fit your cutting mat, then use a quilting ruler and rotary cutter to cut it in four equal pieces. The raw edges curl slightly, which gives it a finished look. WOW– four fabulous gifts in about 3 minutes–no sewing required!

For a little thicker version, cut your 2-yard length of knit fabric in half lengthwise. Then take each piece, fold it in half lengthwise, and sew it in a big rectangle, leaving a small opening to turn inside-out. You can quickly hand sew the opening closed.

For more texture, wet the scarf and twist it, securing it with rubber bands and leaving it twisted until it dried. This just gives it a wrinkled texture, which relaxes the jersey knit fabric nicely (and covers up your not-so-straight sewing!).

Little Birdie Secrets is a regular contributor to Make and Takes and was born from the crafting obsession of three friends living in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to share the wealth of fun projects and helpful tips we find in books, on the Internet, and sometimes in our own imaginations. Visit us at www.littlebirdiesecrets.com

This fleece scarf is as fun to make as it is to wear. It’s a great first-time-sewing project and perfect for the upcoming winter season. I made these with Halloween colors to help keep us warm as we trick-or-treat!

Supplies for Fringe Fleece Scarf:

• 1/4 yard of fleece (any color)
• scissors
• sewing machine or needle & thread

First, cut your fleece into long strips. My strips are about 4-5 inches wide and 5 feet long. You’ll want to cut it shorter for a child size scarf, about 3-4 feet long.

Layer 2 or 3 fleece strips on top of each other. It’s more fun if these are each a different color of fleece. Then sew down the middle, just one straight line. This is best done with a sewing machine, but you could simply use a needle and thread if you’re without a machine.

Cut 1 inch wide slits up each side of the sewn fleece strips. You want to get pretty close to the middle, but DO NOT CUT through the sewn line.

Now fluff it up and it’s ready to wear. I’ll be sporting this with my witch hat for Halloween (my standard costume as I trick-or-treat with the kids!) Or this would make a great scarf for a Cruella Deville costume.